CLEVELAND, Ohio - House prices continue to climb across much of Northeast Ohio, posting an annual growth rate of 8.7 percent in April.

The region's average sale price reached $165,691 last month, based on a monthly listing-service report that spans 18 counties.

In Cuyahoga County, home to Cleveland and more than 50 other communities, the average sale price for a house jumped 10.8 percent from a year before, to $172,459. Summit County, where Akron is the county seat, experienced a 10.4 percent annual gain. The average sale price there was $169,521 in April.

Condo prices softened slightly, falling 6.9 percent from a year ago to $136,052.

Those numbers come from Yes MLS, a newly combined and re-branded listing service that blankets the region. The company, now the largest listing service in Ohio, sprang from a recent consolidation of the Cleveland-based Northern Ohio Regional Multiple Listing Service and its Akron-area counterpart, the Centralized Real Estate Information Service.

The Yes MLS report doesn't capture every home that changes hands, since some properties sell without formal marketing or are listed for sale directly by owners. But the monthly report accounts for most transactions and provides a snapshot of local housing trends.

Based on those numbers, sales also are up. Across the 18-county area, purchases of new and existing homes were 3.5 percent higher in April than they were a year before. Cuyahoga County also posted a 3.5 percent annual sales gain. Summit County sales perked up by 3.3 percent when compared with April 2017 levels.

And buyers are moving faster. Houses that changed hands last month spent an average of 79 days on the market, down from 84 days the previous year. Condos sold after an average listing time of 70 days, a sharp contraction from the typical 96-day listing period in early 2017.

Local homes sold for as much as $2.1 million and as little as $5,200 last month.

Though April was a stronger month, 2018 sales overall are lagging slightly - off 0.6 percent compared with the first four months of last year.